SILVERHILL, Alabama — The Silverhill Town Council once again delayed the hiring of a new police chief, tabling a vote at its Monday, April 16 meeting, prompting several town employees to speak out.

At its April 2 meeting, Silverhill Mayor Tim Wilson recommended the hiring of Sgt. Michael Taylor as the town’s new police chief, but the measure failed to pass after a tie vote of the council with the promise that the measure would be put back on the agenda for the April 16 meeting.

After meeting in executive session for about 10 minutes “to discuss the name and good character of an individual,” the council voted to table a vote on hiring a new police chief and tabled action on updating the police department’s S.O.P.

“We just want to know how long you are going to keep putting this off,” said Court Clerk Amy Macon. “People come in asking every day, ‘When are you going to hire a new police chief,’ and we just don’t know what else to tell them.”

Town Clerk Patricia Bankester also spoke out at the meeting and several police officers stood up in the meeting to endorse Taylor’s appointment as chief.

“I didn’t ask for this, but I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” Taylor said. “I just don’t know how much longer I can serve as the acting chief.”

Taylor has served as the town’s acting chief since the resignation of Kevin Brock on Jan. 25.

After asking attorney Josh Myrick if the town could hire a part time officer rather than hire a chief at its Feb. 5 meeting, the council voted to advertise for the position at its Feb. 19 meeting after it was determined that the town must have a police chief.

An additional part-time officer has also been hired following a plea by Taylor and other members of the police department at the March 5 meeting.

Taylor also addressed council members at the April 2 meeting regarding the police department’s Standard Operating Procedure. Town prosecutor Mike Dasinger was supposed to review the SOP and present a report to council members. The item has been on the agenda for the last two meetings, but has been tabled after Dasinger has not been able to attend the meetings.

“I’m doing what I can as acting chief, but there are certain things I’m not going to do, like re-writing the S.O.P.,” Taylor said at the April 16 meeting.

The council also received a letter from Baldwin County Sheriff Hoss Mack asking if the town needed the Sheriff’s Department to cover a shift until the town can hire a new chief.

If so, the town would need to enter into a contract with the Sheriff’s Department, similar to the one following the firing of Chief Kim Wasdin. Wilson said the contract, which would provide one officer 40 hours per week, would cost the town about $5,500 a month.

In other business April 16 the council voted to approve a resolution to enter into an agreement with Civil Southeast regarding the running of 8-inch water lines and replacing of 2-inch water lines with 8-inch waterlines along East Boulevard.

Engineers met with council members at the March 19 meeting saying that the town could pay for the project by increasing water rates by $1 three times over a 2-year period. Engineers returned to the April 16 meeting and answered several questions by the council regarding the agreement.

That, coupled with an increase in water customers over that time, would go a long way toward paying for the project, they said.

The projected $540,000 project would require a loan from the town which would close probably in January 2019 with the first payment not due until January 2020, said Silverhill Superintendent of Utilities Scottie Smith.

In other business April 19, the council:

•Tabled a measure to approve the town’s insurance for 2018.

•Tabled a measure to resend the town’s impound ordinance.

•Approved the installation of a new roof for the Oscar Johnson Memorial Library. At a previous meeting the council voted to use funds from the library and to reimburse the library over a five-year period by increasing the library’s monthly stipend from $350 to $500 per month. Wilson said, however, the roof repair needed to be done in a separate vote.

•Approved the sponsorship of a Central Baldwin Middle School cheerleader.

•Took no action on a proposal to split meetings into one regular meeting and one work session meeting per month. Currently the town holds both a work session and regular meeting twice per month.